Tayaya
10-15-2008, 07:08 AM
Well, the new PSP revision launched yesterday, and after seeing the side by side comparisons online showing how much more vivid and bright the new LCD is, I decided to pick one up. I really enjoyed the improvements they made to the handheld when the 2000 came out, but was upset that the screen, which I've always felt could be improved upon, was ignored on the last update. How does the new 3000 series PSP stack up? Let's see.
Right off the bat, it feels like they cut the weight down even more on the new model than they did on the 2000. The difference is not as significant, but it definitely does feel a little bit lighter to me. It could just be in my head though.
The 3000 model no longer has the shiny coating that's been a part of the PSP since the original, so it doesn't feel as smooth or slick in your hands, but on the plus side it isn't a fingerprint magnet anymore. The plastic feels a little like the original DS (the ol' silver one), but it also conjures up memories of that silver finish rubbing off over time. Only time will tell if that happens. The lack of that thick layer of clearcoat does make the 3000 feel a little more flimsy. And this is coming from someone that thought the 2000 did NOT feel flimsy, despite public opinion that the light weight made it feel cheap.
Ergonmics have changed ever slightly. The system curves a bit more towards the edges, front and back. It sits nicely in the hands, even with my larger paws. L and R buttons still suck. The D-pad is a little nicer but still that same ol' Sony design we're all familiar with. Special and Super moves in Street Fighter Zero 3 Double Upper are easier to pull off, but not as easy as on a Dual Shock.
The LCD is a lot more vivid than before, and the blacks are really well defined. Using Street Fighter again as my test, the screen exploded with color and looked almost better than a console version of the same game on a TV. Wipeout Pulse looked equally fantastic. Sharpness is about the same as before, and the colors don't bleed or feel oversaturated in most cases. There is an option in the system menu to mimic the old color range of the original LCD for games that look "funny" with the wide color range activated. I wish the DS lite had this option, as True Swing Golf's neon grass is annoying, since the developers color-corrected the game to compensate for the old DS' blue lighting. Still trying to make a final judgment on the issue of ghosting. Need to get my PSN copy of Einhander loaded on here before I'll be able to judge the improvements properly. Supposedly the new LCD has a better refresh time than the old one, so that "smear" effect should be less when playing games that scroll quickly (or shooters with tiny bullets that can be hard to see when they smear).
The other changes are little things, like the "home" button now having a Playstation symbol on it, and the unit being able to Auto-detect the USB connection when you plug a USB cable into it, so you don't have to go into USB Mode manually. Haven't tried the PSN Store yet, because Firmware 5.0 wasn't available last night when I was testing this, but it's downloading now but taking ages on my work wifi. The UMD drive seems to have a different motor than before, as I could hear it spinning up and spinning down, and the whirr of the drive is a lot more audible than before. Note this was in a completely silent room with no sound yet coming from the game. Not a real issue, but something I noticed. The AC adapter is smaller and lighter now too, if that matters to you!
Overall it's a nice update to the platform, but unless the LCD on the old units bothers the hell out of you like it bothered me, there really isn't a real good reason to upgrade to the 3000 if you already made the jump to the slimmer 2000 series when it came out. The changes are a lot more subtle, and not nearly as numerous as they were in the last hardware update. If you have the ol' fatty PSP though, definitely consider upgrading, as the lighter weight and better D-pad and face buttons are a huge improvement over the original.
Right off the bat, it feels like they cut the weight down even more on the new model than they did on the 2000. The difference is not as significant, but it definitely does feel a little bit lighter to me. It could just be in my head though.
The 3000 model no longer has the shiny coating that's been a part of the PSP since the original, so it doesn't feel as smooth or slick in your hands, but on the plus side it isn't a fingerprint magnet anymore. The plastic feels a little like the original DS (the ol' silver one), but it also conjures up memories of that silver finish rubbing off over time. Only time will tell if that happens. The lack of that thick layer of clearcoat does make the 3000 feel a little more flimsy. And this is coming from someone that thought the 2000 did NOT feel flimsy, despite public opinion that the light weight made it feel cheap.
Ergonmics have changed ever slightly. The system curves a bit more towards the edges, front and back. It sits nicely in the hands, even with my larger paws. L and R buttons still suck. The D-pad is a little nicer but still that same ol' Sony design we're all familiar with. Special and Super moves in Street Fighter Zero 3 Double Upper are easier to pull off, but not as easy as on a Dual Shock.
The LCD is a lot more vivid than before, and the blacks are really well defined. Using Street Fighter again as my test, the screen exploded with color and looked almost better than a console version of the same game on a TV. Wipeout Pulse looked equally fantastic. Sharpness is about the same as before, and the colors don't bleed or feel oversaturated in most cases. There is an option in the system menu to mimic the old color range of the original LCD for games that look "funny" with the wide color range activated. I wish the DS lite had this option, as True Swing Golf's neon grass is annoying, since the developers color-corrected the game to compensate for the old DS' blue lighting. Still trying to make a final judgment on the issue of ghosting. Need to get my PSN copy of Einhander loaded on here before I'll be able to judge the improvements properly. Supposedly the new LCD has a better refresh time than the old one, so that "smear" effect should be less when playing games that scroll quickly (or shooters with tiny bullets that can be hard to see when they smear).
The other changes are little things, like the "home" button now having a Playstation symbol on it, and the unit being able to Auto-detect the USB connection when you plug a USB cable into it, so you don't have to go into USB Mode manually. Haven't tried the PSN Store yet, because Firmware 5.0 wasn't available last night when I was testing this, but it's downloading now but taking ages on my work wifi. The UMD drive seems to have a different motor than before, as I could hear it spinning up and spinning down, and the whirr of the drive is a lot more audible than before. Note this was in a completely silent room with no sound yet coming from the game. Not a real issue, but something I noticed. The AC adapter is smaller and lighter now too, if that matters to you!
Overall it's a nice update to the platform, but unless the LCD on the old units bothers the hell out of you like it bothered me, there really isn't a real good reason to upgrade to the 3000 if you already made the jump to the slimmer 2000 series when it came out. The changes are a lot more subtle, and not nearly as numerous as they were in the last hardware update. If you have the ol' fatty PSP though, definitely consider upgrading, as the lighter weight and better D-pad and face buttons are a huge improvement over the original.